Man admits selling drugs to teens

Mercury News Staff Report

A 21yearold Los Gatos man faces up to 38 years in prison after pleading guilty
Friday to one count of possession and eight felony counts of selling and
furnishing methamphetamine to students at Los Gatos High School. Anthony
Alfonso Garcia, a Los Gatos fiberglass technician, was arrested last November
after an undercover investigation by Los Gatos police and the Santa Clara
County District Attorney's Office. Police said three of his teenage customers
had been buying their drugs from Garcia since their days in middle school.

Garcia also pleaded guilty to an enhancement charge of sales to a minor more
than four years younger than himself, Deputy District Attorney Jay Boyarsky
said. An enhancement charge means there were special circumstances that
could justify adding one to three years on each count. Formal sentencing will
be in September.

Garcia has remained in custody since his arrest on suspicion of furnishing
drugs and drug possession, as well as driving with a suspended license and a
probation violation.

Boyarsky said Garcia was on probation for felony drug counts of selling
marijuana to a minor under 14 years of age and possession of
methamphetamine. He served seven months in jail.

The investigation, done with the cooperation of administrators at Los Gatos
High School, was launched last October after a female student was caught
smoking in a school bathroom. She said the methamphetamine found in her
purse was supplied by a man she identified only as ``Tony.''

Published Saturday, July 19, 1997, in the San Jose Mercury News